Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.75% of Kimberly-Clark worth $762,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $141.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,064,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,201,267. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $145.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,462 shares of company stock worth $7,206,653. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company's Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.